“Hey, Tim?” Akbar lay wide awake on his bunk.
“Huh?” Two-Tall grunted from the upper bunk.
“You awake?”
“No!”
“Sorry. Go back to sleep.” Akbar considered kicking the mattress above him to wake Tim the rest of the way up.
“Oh man,” Tim groaned. “Now is when you gotta to talk? Not on the line? Not on the flight back? What is it, three in the morning?”
“More like eight-thirty,” though the blackout curtains kept the room dark. Nothing to see except the vague outlines of a standing dresser and a small bookcase they’d managed to wedge into the corner of the small space. They were both voracious and eclectic readers, which had been their bond from the first day.
“And you’ve been awake since… Shit.” There was no real heat behind the sleepy curse. “Well, I’m awake now. Hit me with it.”
Akba
